Safety razor



N. TESTl SAFETY RAZOR March 1 1949.

Filed June 15, 1945 Patented Mar. 1, 1949 SAFETY RAZOR Nicholas Testi, Boston, Mass., assignor to Gillette Safety Razor Company, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Delaware Application June 15, 1945, Serial No. 599,598

12 Claims.

This invention comprises an improved safety razor of the so-called one-piece type, that is to say, a razor in which the co-operating bladeclamping members are connected at all times but are readily and conveniently separable to a limited degree to facilitate replacement of a used blade by a fresh sharp blade and for purposes of cleaning. This type of razor is preferred by many users because it obviates the danger of losing or misplacing loose parts.

Blades may be supplied to the razor of my invention either by hand or mechanically by magazine or blade insertor, but however the blade may be supplied, it is desirable that the razor should be so organized that its blade seat may be quickly and fully exposed for the reception of the blade. This is accomplished in accordance with the present invention by the provision of connecting elements between the blade-clamping members which are disposed at a slight angle to their blade-engaging faces. For example, one member may be provided with a bore or passage which is longitudinally inclined with respect to the bladeengaging faces of the member and the other may have correspondingly inclined rods projecting from it and freely slidable in the bores thus provided for them. This form of connection is herein shown as designed to permit the cap to be dis placed endwise to clear and uncover completely the blade-seat and still hold the cap reliably against all unwanted twisting or transverse misalignment.

Preferably and as herein shown, spring means are provided which tend at all times to move the two blade-clamping members into their registered superposed relation and into clamping relation to each other. This spring may be tensioned when the blade seat is to be uncovered and when released is elfective to move the blade-clamping members toward each other in a converging manner and either to clamp in position for shaving any blade which has been previously positioned on the exposed blade-seat, or to hold the blade while the user completes the clamping movement. Conversely, when the cap is displaced from its blade-clamping position it is immediately relieved of clamping pressure so that its longitudinal movement may be carried out quickly in response to very slight pressure on the part of the user.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of the razor head on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 2 is a view in cross-section on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a corresponding view in longitudinal section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a View in perspective of the parts of the razor, shown in exploded relation and all of a greatly enlarged scale.

As herein illustrated, the razor has a tubular handle it} presenting a threaded stud at its upper end for connection with the blade-supporting or guard member of the razor head. This member of the razor head includes a threaded boss II, shown in Fig. 3 as merging into a flat elongated bottom plate I 2. At its opposite longitudinal edges the bottom plate [2 merges into integral upwardly and outwardly diverging side walls 13 and I4 and these, in turn, are formed integral with a top plate [5 supplying the blade seat of the razor. The top plate of the guard member is extended transversely to form guard bars 16 and these are set off by longitudinal slots in the plate which lighten the construction of the head. The top plate is provided with an upstanding medial longitudinal rib l'l undercut to form a hook at its rear end and flattened throughout the intermediate portion of its length. The rib I! has the function of locating a slotted blade accurately in position, both longitudinally and transversely, upon the blade seat of the razor. The top plate is upwardly convex in its general contour and rectangular in outline as shown in Fig. 2. An anchor pin 18 extends vertically across the space between the top and bottom plates near the front end of the guard member and to this is attached one end of a tension spring IE to be referred to hereinafter. The side walls l3 and Id of the head are tubular in construction and provided with longitudinal bores or passages 20 and 2| which are inclined downwardly from the plane of the blade seat and forwardly throughout the length of the head, that is to say, toward the right-hand end of the razor as seen in Fig. 3.

The blade-clamping cap 22 is complementary in shape to the guard member. Its inner face presents a concave blade-engaging surface which, in co-operation with the convex face of the blade seat, imparts a transverse curvature to the blade when the latter is clamped in the razor. The inner face of the cap is longitudinally slotted to receive the rib I! of the blade seat. Upon its upper surface, the cap has two spaced longitudinal ribs 23, defining betweenthem a'wide shallow channel 24. At the rear end of the cap the ribs are extended downwardly in the form of arms 25 and 26. These arms carry at their lower ends parallel rods 28 and 29, threaded at their forward ends and sloping forwardly and downwardly at an angle corresponding to the angle of the bores 26 and 2|. The bores and rods constitute connecting elements between the cap and guard members and both are disposed at a slight angle to the blade-engaging faces thereof. This connection permits the cap to be displaced endwise completely to uncover the blade seat and still holds the cap against all unwanted twisting or transverse misalignment.

Between the arms 25 and 26, the cap carries a forwardly extending loop 21. The rear end of the tension spring I9 is connected to this loop so that the spring tends at all times to pull the cap forwardly while it is guided downwardly toward the blade seat and toward a position of registration with the guard member. Tubular nuts 30 and 3| are threaded on the forward ends of the rods 28 and 29 and these serve as limiting stops co-operating with shoulders and 2| at the rear ends of the bores 20 and 2| to prevent disengagement of the rods 28 and 29 from the bores and disconnection of the parts. The arms 25, 26 act as positive stops for limiting the forward movement of the cap when it is registered vertically above the guard.

A slotted blade 32 is shown in shaving position in Figs. 1-3. Its slot corresponds in length substantially to the over-all length of the bladelocating rib I1, so that the blade may be placed in the razor only when the cap 22 is displaced to the limit of its rearward movement. When the cap is released, after a blade has been presented, the spring l9 immediately moves the cap forwardly and downwardly, in a path determined by the angle of the rods 28 and 29 and the bores in which they travel.

Assuming that it is desired to replace the used blade 32 shown in Fig. 1 as clamped upon the blade seat of the guard member by the cap 22, the user has only to slide the cap rearwardly against the tension of the spring 19, the cap being guided in an inclined and divergent path with respect to the blade seat and held against twisting by the rods 28 and 29. The cap is limited in its rearward separating movement by engagement of the nuts 36 and 31 with the shoulders 26' and 2| at the rear ends of the bores 28 and 2| and when arrested in this position the blade seat is fully exposed and the blade 32 appears in flat position upon the blade seat.

The blade may now be conveniently removed and replaced by a fresh blade which, as soon as presented is positively and accurately held in place by the rib ll. The user now releases the cap 22 whereupon the spring l9 immediately advances it toward the right as seen in the drawings. As this advancing movement continues, the inner concave face of the cap 22 engages the blade and begins to flex it over the convex face of the blade seat. Ordinarily the spring 19 will be strong enough to advance the cap until it covers half or three-quarters of the length of the blade. Slight additional pressure on the part of the user completes the forward clamping movement of the cap 22. This is determined when the arms and 26 engage the rear end of the guard member and in that position the blade is fully clamped in shaving position.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail an illustrative embodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A safety razor comprising a blade-supporting member, an opposed blade-clamping member, and elements connecting said members which are inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis of one of said members, whereby the cap is raised from the supporting member when displaced longitudinally thereon and drawn into clamping engagement when moved into registration therewith under the control of said connecting elements.

2. A safety razor comprising elongated cap and guard members having co-operating blade-engaging faces, and elements connecting said members which are disposed at a slight angle to the blade-engaging faces of said members.

3. A safety razor comprising elongated cap and guard members, the guard-member having longitudinal side walls each including a bore inclined downward toward one end of the razor, correspondingly inclined rods projecting from the cap and freely slidable in said bores, and spring means tending at all times to move the cap and guard members into registration with each other.

4. A safety razor comprising elongated cap and guard members having co-operating blade-engaging faces, elements connecting said members which are disposed at a slight angle to the bladeengaging faces of said members, spring means tending to move said members relatively to each other, and a stop for registering them in opposed relation.

5. A safety razor comprising elongated cap and guard members having co-operating blade-engaging faces, and being relatively movable in a longitudinal direction, means including a spring normally holding said members in superposed blade-clamping relation, and guiding means for retracting said members when one is so moved with respect to the other.

6. In a safety razor, a cap member having an elongated blade-engaging face of concave transverse curvature, downwardly extending arms at one end, and a pair of parallel IOds extending from the ends of the arms inwardly beneath the said blade-engaging face and diverging therefrom.

7. In a safety razor, a blade-supporting member having an elongated blade-seat of convex transverse curvature, and side walls having tubular passages therein which are parallel and slope downwardly from one end toward the other of said member.

8. A safet razor comprising elongated cap and guard members having co-operating blade-engaging faces, spaced tubular passages in one of said members inclined with respect to its bladeengaging face and corresponding rods connected to the other member and movable in said passage, whereby the two members may be displaced longitudinally with respect to each other to a position in which the face of the guard is totally exposed.

9. A safety razor comprising elongated cap and guard members having co-operating transversely curved blade-engaging faces, the face of the guard member having also an intermediate portion supporting an exposed blade in fiat condition thereon, means for guiding said members for relative longitudinal separation in divergent paths, and a spring for returning said members until arrested by resistance to bending by an interposed blade.

10. A safety razor comprising elongated bladeclamping members having co-operating transversely curved blade-engaging faces, connecting means constructed and arranged for guiding the approaching movement of said member in longitudinal convergent paths, and a spring urging said members in said movement.

11. In a safety razor, a cap member having an elongated concave blade-engaging face, a pair of spaced parallel rods rigidly connected to the cap member and extending longitudinally beneath it at a slight angle to the blade-engaging face thereof, and a tension spring connected to the cap midway between said rods.

12. In a safety razor, a blade supporting memher having an elongated convex blade-engaging face, said blade-supporting member being also nected to said member.

NICHOLAS TESTI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Lambert May 2, 1933 Number 

